This invention relates to the field of devices that traverse over snow, ice, and colder climates of the earth in a climbing or sliding fashion. Namely, foot retention devices otherwise known in the field as bindings, binding plates, mounting plates, snowboard bindings, and touring ski bindings, soft shelled boot bindings, and especially those meant for selective free heel touring and lock heel sliding positions for ski shaped devices. This invention also relates to binding assemblies oriented mainly for soft shelled boots that serve a touring ski mode with which the user may move in a walking motion and may also secondarily connect to a sliding device such as a ski or snowboard. Touring binding systems are used for retaining footwear to a particular device for traversing over snow and ice covered terrain in a walking fashion. These binding systems need to be very versatile to be selectively placed on the skis in a touring walking or telemark or cross-country mode or in an additional mode for lock heel sliding. Split-boards and/or touring snowboards require a touring binding assembly and separate mounting plate adaptors with which to selectively allow a touring position for a cross-country style ascension mode and a secondary mode to selectively lock the mounting plate adaptor position for sliding down hill. The user mounts a separate snowboard binding assembly and binding base to the mounting plate assembly which costs a lot and weighs a lot. When the touring binding base plate adaptor is mounted to the system it has the selective ability to pivot allowing a walking motion.
It also has the ability to accept standard issue snowboard binding systems using three hole and four hole mounting disks. Additionally, the mounting plate, in one embodiment may optionally change from a walking pivot binding position by a quick-release axle located at a toe region on the base plate adaptor to a fixed non-walking “sliding” position by simply selectively reconnecting the base plate adaptor at a region between the heel and toe region of the base plate portion of the touring binding system in which the footwear touring pivot is stopped.